Second Skin Tendrils: Leo's Discovery
by PestoMonkey
Summary: Companion to Second Skin. Events that take place at the Flores house immediately following the end of Chapter 9.


They always waited to make love until after she knew her father went to sleep, even though his room was on the other side of the house. The first time Leo spent the night, there was no fanfare the next morning. Leo had insisted on not sneaking out. At breakfast her father behaved as though it were a normal morning and Leo was part of the family, chatting with him at the sunny patio breakfast table like he belonged. Ramona had been ecstatic.

When she asked her father about it later, he just patted her cheek gently and said, "He loves you, _hija de mi alma_, you deserve to be loved and to have the people you love around you."

Sometimes she worried that Leo loved her too much. So much that he seemed blind to what she was doing to him. The entire month of August had been a confusing and bittersweet series of evenings spent in the arms of two different men, but the deception was finally at an end.

How over it was had hit her like a ton of bricks earlier that day when she'd gone to Sam's farewell party. She never should have shown up, but Leo would have wondered why she'd stayed away.

When she saw the larger-than-life sketch he'd done of himself, naked, with Toni, she felt sick. It was bad enough that Leo spent so much time with Toni. He had assured her he and Toni were only very good, very old friends._ "She's more like a sister than anything. You should know that by now. It was Manny she loved, once upon a time. Not me."_ She knew he wouldn't lie to her, but she still couldn't stand the other woman. Now she felt devastated knowing Sam would be with Toni on a daily basis after he moved.

She told Leo she wasn't feeling well and he'd taken her home. He'd been sweet and tender all evening until she couldn't stand it any longer. She finally urged him to touch her if only to drown out the thoughts of Sam once and for all. She'd been rough and insistent with him, and he was surprised but responded the way he used to – the way he'd responded when they had to keep their love a secret from her father. It seemed like the first time in months that neither of them had held back, and it felt more amazing than ever. It wasn't until she was basking in the afterglow that she realized it was still early and there was no way her father would have been asleep for that, but she didn't really care. She had her old Leo back – the passionate, hungry Leo she'd missed. Sam could have Toni for all she cared.

And then the unthinkable happened. It was simply an idle comment Papa made during breakfast the next morning. How he found the pictures she had no idea, but she shouldn't have been surprised.

"I'm happy you're taking such an interest in fine art,_ mi querida_, who is this artist you've been sitting for? Are you commissioning a new painting for the gallery? Whoever it is, the artist is very talented – captures emotion perfectly..."

He'd droned on for another moment but she hadn't heard the rest of his words, her mind frozen at the realization that her father must have found the sketches from Sam. The room grew utterly still and she looked at Leo who still had a piece of toast lifted halfway to his mouth to take a bite.

They stared at each other for several seconds before she averted her gaze. His expression had grown dark and dangerous. She could sense his effort at controlling his reaction in front of her father, who they both knew frowned on any kind of emotional outburst. Papa was always very cool and contained. The only times she'd ever seen him emotional were around the time her mother died, and occasionally she'd catch a stray tear in his eye when he stared at her mother's painting.

She excused herself and left the table, taking her plate into the kitchen. When she emptied her uneaten breakfast into the disposal she noticed her hands shaking.

"Let me take that, you don't look so well, my dear. Go lay down," she glanced gratefully at their housekeeper, Elena, and nodded. She felt dizzy and unsteady as she made her way up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. She sat for a second on her bed but was too agitated to stay still. She was pacing across the floor when he came in. He was quiet at first.

"Show them to me."

She didn't want to. They were for her. It was only a fluke that her father had seen them at all, but at least he'd thankfully misinterpreted their purpose... at least for the time being. _Are you sure about that?_ she asked herself. She almost laughed out loud at the thought. No... her father never did anything by accident. This was no accident either, she was certain. But why? And why _now_?

She sensed Leo growing more agitated as she hesitated.

"_Show me!_" he yelled, his voice a roar that blasted through the air, assaulting her ears. She flinched and glared at him. He'd never once raised his voice to her. Never once had she seen the side of him he reserved for business directed at her. His reaction frightened her out of her anxious state and into anger. _How dare he._

She clenched her teeth and said, "Alright, fine, Leo. Here they are."

She turned to face the large window, then tapped on her bracelet and the entire glass wall of her room became opaque. One by one a giant mosaic of dozens of images began appearing side by side, showing her in all her glory in almost photographic detail. She knew Sam hadn't sent her every sketch he'd done of her, and she felt a surge of gratitude for that. These drawings weren't humiliating to her in the least, but some of the ones he'd done of her would have been. He'd only sent her the most beautiful ones. They were all perfect. Just as perfect as that sketch he'd done of Toni the day before. She was sure Leo would recognize the particular drawing Sam had done of her that first morning that so resembled the one the entire gang had seen yesterday, even if the model was a different woman entirely. Leo would know without having to be told who the artist was.

He barely made a sound when he left. The room had grown silent and she only realized he was gone when she heard the whine of his car engine coming to life above her and panic hit.

_Oh god. What have I done?_

She was frantic at first. She had to get to him. Warn him. She tapped at her bracelet to send a message, but the messaging application was blocked. She tapped the controls for her car, but they were blocked, too.

She rushed back out to the patio to see her father still sitting there at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee, tapping at the screen of a datapad in the morning sunlight that filtered over the mountaintops behind the house.

"How did you know?"

"I know everything that goes on in this house, _mi'ja_."

"But you couldn't have. I looped the surveillance feed whenever he was here."

"One of them, yes. There are two. You can never be too safe in our business."

So he'd known all along what she'd been doing every weekend? And yet he'd waited until today to do anything about it.

"Papa, do you have any idea what you've done?" she said, her agitation reaching an explosive state. "Leo's going to kill him!"

Her father set his datapad down and stood, then walked over to her. His brow creased and he pursed his lips as he looked at her for a second.

"It's up to Leo now," he said. "I trust his judgment. If the boy needs to go, I trust Leo to do the job right."

He turned to walk away. Ramona stared after him, incredulous.

"Papa! We ended it! This is unnecessary!"

She watched as he strode away from her, infuriated at his lack of response. He paused at the edge of the patio, gazing out at the view of the city skyline as though he owned it.

She followed him, feeling more and more helpless with every second. Leo was on his way to invoke his own version of justice on Sam for something that had been her fault all along.

"It's over between us!" she shouted at her father.

"Is it?" he asked quietly. "Can you tell me with all honesty that you never, ever intended to see him again? You say he's leaving, but how far is he going? San Diego? That might as well be the Moon, right? It's better this way."

He was right, she knew. She'd already been thinking of ways to see him again. But Sam never deserved this. She needed to make her father understand somehow.

"I know what happened to Mama," she spat. "What really happened. What you lied to me about all these years. Don't take out your old anger on Sam, Papa. He doesn't deserve it. He's not the man Mama betrayed you for."

Her father just stared at his shoes in quiet contemplation for several moments.

"You are not your mother, _mi'ja_. I loved her with all my heart, but she was troubled. You're much stronger than she was. But if you can't let go of him, he needs to disappear or you will be compromising everything. You are my only daughter. You have a responsibility. You have a legacy. Leo is only doing his part to ensure that your role is fulfilled. It's in his hands now. I trust him to make the right decision."

"Papa... no. He'll kill him. Leo... he loves me too much. He'll kill Sam." She struggled not to choke on her words. She couldn't show weakness in front of her father, but she knew she had no more arguments that had any chance of reaching him. And no way to reach Sam if her father had locked her so sufficiently away from outside communication.

"Make him leave," she blurted. "Just make him go. But please don't kill him. He doesn't deserve it. I'll never forgive myself if my actions caused his death. Please, Papa. Tell Leo not to kill him! Make Sam go further away than San Diego. Just let him live."

Her father took a deep breath and turned to look at her finally. "It's out of my hands now. But if Leo lets him live, I'll see what I can do."

She stared at him anguished for a moment but knew that was the best she was going to get.

"Thank you, Papa."

_Oh, god, Leo, please don't kill him._


End file.
